26 Jun Rift Rivals 2019

If you’re a viewer of the LCS, LEC, LCK, or any competitive LoL for that matter, then you know about the fabled competition for bragging rights featuring nearly every region around the world every year known as “Rift Rivals”. The annual battle between regions is one of the more viewed tournaments for even the smallest of LoL regions(Mainly due to the fact that it gives smaller teams from Vietnam and Japan an opportunity to win an international tournament). Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to watching these regions battle it out for the bragging rights of “Rift Rivals Champion”

The teams that compete at Rift Rivals differ each year, with big-name competitors fighting alongside lesser-known teams. Tomorrow, NA and EU will face off in their Rift Rivals. The teams representing NA were chosen off of the prior Spring Split, namely Team Liquid, Team SoloMid, and Cloud 9. The teams representing EU were chosen the same way with G2 Esports, Origen, and Fnatic.

In last year’s NA vs. EU Rift Rivals, the EU LCS(now the LEC, League of Legends European Championship) took the title from NA with Fnatic, G2 Esports, and Splyce defeating Team Liquid, 100 Thieves, and Echo Fox. NA looks to bite back and steal the title from their Inter-Atlantic opponents. Whatever the outcome of this match, whoever takes it home will be the new “Best in the West”.

On the other side of the world, four regions look to claim the title for themselves. Rift Rivals for these regions is going to be more competitive and more intense, mainly because there are some big names in the League world. Teams like SK Telecom T1 from the LCK, Flash Wolves from the LMS, and even 2018 Worlds Champion Invictus Gaming from the LPL.

Lesser-known teams from the other respective regions will be competing as well. Teams such as the Dashing Buffalo from Vietnam(formerly the Phong Vu Buffalo, an independent team in the 2018 Worlds tournament), MAD Team out of the LMS, and many more.

I’m excited to watch each and every one of these teams face off for their respective regions in hopes of gaining some international fame. Many of these teams will never win a world championship(some of them already have). Many of these teams will not win MSI(some of them already have). But it’s tournaments like these that make me love the League of Legends community. Riot has done a phenomenal job with spreading their game around the world and creating a global audience, and doing tournaments like these is why LoL is going to stay the number one game in the world.